Planners say 'no' to garage-site homes in Mildenhall

One of the garage blocks in Peterhouse Close that Flagship Housing wanted to demolish for homes

Residents fighting against a Mildenhall housing development had a bittersweet victory on Wednesday as minutes after a council decided to block the scheme, developers announced they would consider an appeal.

Rejecting the applications, Cllr Louis Busuttil said 'there is already insufficient parking and these developments will add to the problem'.

Residents objected strongly to the plan when first consulted in November, and argued having more homes and fewer parking places would make an already difficult parking situation worse.

Ralph Shingfield, a resident of Pembroke Close, told councillors: "If these plans go ahead as they are it will have a detrimental impact on the lives of current residents with a battle to find a space to park, property values reduces and no parking available."

The locations of the garage blocks Flagship sought to redevelop

But residents and councillors also voiced concern at the design of the new houses.

June Billings, a resident of Peterhouse Close for 50 years, said: "This is over- development. Packing in houses is never a good idea and has the effect of creating a ghetto-like estate."

After the decision, Lee Webster, development project manager, said: "After regular discussions with the local community, we are disappointed with the refusal of our proposals.

"We believe we had presented plans which would have not only provided much-needed affordable housing, but also took into account the views of local people.

"We will now look to appeal the decision so we can progress with the delivery of much-needed new homes for the area."

Mr Shingfield said he was disappointed at the prospect of having to continue the fight against the plans.

Resident Jean Berrigan called on Flagship to 'meet residents halfway' and reconsider plans:"We are not against social housing, but the parking situation is grave."